


Locked And Loaded

by imagine_reedus



Series: Daryl Dixon [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV), The Walking Dead - All Media Types
Genre: Daryl Dixon Smut, F/M, Post-Apocalypse, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-04-12 05:51:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4467821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagine_reedus/pseuds/imagine_reedus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Amy wakes up, her only mission is to find her brother...and Daryl. She will do whatever it takes to find them, even if it means loosing others along the way...</p><p>"Oh my god, you're alive!" Daryl practically screamed, swinging me around. I hesitated. "What?"</p><p>"Yeah, Merle...not so good."...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Awake

*Amy*

I squinted as the light shone in my eyes, seemingly brighter than normal. I went to speak, but no words could leave my dry throat. Once my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I looked around the empty hospital room. Suddenly, everything flashed through my head, the shooters, Daryl. I was shot. I sat up, looking around. It smelt bad in here, it smelt like death. There was a vase of dead flowers on the drawers at the side of my bed. I looked down. I was dressed in black jeans, a grey tank top and my denim jacket, with biker boots. I frowned.

"What the hell?" I whispered to myself. As I stepped out of the bed, I saw a piece of paper fall to the floor. I picked it up, reading it. It was a note from Daryl. I could tell his handwriting.

'Amy, if you ever wake up and read this, you might be slightly confused. One, why you're dressed in clothes when you just woke up from a coma. Well, if you look outside, literally, the world isn't exactly the same as it used to be. I left your bag, the one with the same pattern as my poncho, at the end of the bed. It has about 2 days worth of food and water in, as well as your knife and one of Jack's guns. If you see any of the dead ones, you have to kill the brain, or they'll just keep coming. Me, Jack and Merle have gone to Atlanta. We took Lydia, I know you'd want us to protect her. It's supposed to be safe there. If you wake up, come find us. I love you. Daryl.'

I could feel tears in my eyes as I read the note. A small smile crept onto my face. At least, if the world had gone to shit, they were all together. I knew if anyone would survive this, it's them. I took a deep breathe and stood up, walking to my bag. I drank a whole bottle of water, gasping when I finished. I threw it away and left the room, gun and knife pointed. I heard a crash down the hall, so I followed the sound. As I turned the corner, I saw a man slowly walking down the corridor.

"You alive?" I shouted, making him turn around and almost fall over. He looked at me with a confused expression, struggling to get words out. "What's ya name?"

"I...I'm Rick...Rick Grimes. What's happened?" I shrugged.

"Dunno. Far as I can tell, a lot of people died. You know, like the dead are coming back and eating everyone kind of shit, like in the films. Look." I passed him the note Daryl had left. He squinted a bit before reading it. After a few minutes, he looked up at me, passing it back.

"Atlanta? Maybe...maybe my wife and boy are there. I have to find them." He started panicking.

"Yeah, they probably are, if they made it." He frowned. "Which I'm sure they did. Now come on, we gotta go. Can't stay here forever. Plus, you gotta find some proper clothes." He was dressed in nothing but a ripped hospital gown and boxers. He looked down at himself and smiled slightly, pulling on the bandage. "You get shot too, or stabbed?"

"Shot. Wait, I know you." I frowned. "Yeah, you have a brother, Jack, the one from the note. I met him a few times, police stuff." I nodded. "I remember when it was in the papers, you getting shot."

"How long was I out?" I asked, becoming more curious.

"When I was shot, I think it had been about 4 months." My eyes widened. "It's ok, they clearly believe in you, expect you to be alive. Come on, lets go find our families." We walked to the back of the hospital, almost being blinded when we opened the doors. We made our way towards where Rick said his house was. Once we got there, the door was open. He ran inside.

"Lori! Carl!" He kept shouting, running around the house.

"Shh, they might hear us." He turned to me as he opened a draw, pulling out a sheriffs uniform. "Really? Don't think you're really a sheriff anymore, do ya?" He looked at me as he buttoned up the shirt.

"Dunno, maybe they'll need a sheriff in Atlanta." Once he'd changed, we left the house. We didn't get very far though, as Rick collapsed and sat down on the front step.

"What's a'matter?" I sat down on his right.

"What if they didn't make it. What if the dead people got to them before they made it to Atlanta. What if..." I shushed him.

"You can't think like that, you just gotta..." I stopped at the sound of metal clanging. I looked to Rick, who was laying on the floor, blood on his face.

"Carl." He muttered, looking up at the boy who had hit him, who clearly wasn't his son. The kid started shouting to someone. I looked out into the street, a gunshot making me flinch harder than it should.

"Did he speak?" The man asked the boy.

"He said Carl."

"Come on son, you know they don't talk." I watched them, before looking back to Rick, who had passed out.

~~~

I was just scraping the last of some beans out of a can the man I now know as Morgan gave to me. His son, Duane, was sat by the window, looking through a tiny gap in the fabric.

"What's your wound?" He said to Rick. I'd already told him about it, but he 'just had to make sure'.

"Gunshot." Rick said, looking over at me.

"Anything else?" Morgan asked.

"What, gunshot not enough?" Rick said, sounding slightly sarcastic. I smirked, putting the can down. Morgan and Rick began talking quieter, so I laid down, looking at the ceiling. I started thinking. What if Daryl hadn't made it, what if they were all dead, what if Atlanta wasn't so safe. I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of crying.

"It's alright, do like we said, cry into the pillow." Morgan was holding a pillow up to Duane, who was crying loudly.

"S'matter?" I looked at Morgan, then out the window.

"His mother, my wife. She turned, she's out there. Outside the window. Don't look." I stopped, sitting back down. Rick looked at me, sadness in his eyes. He gestured for me to go over to him.

"What if they're like that? My family and yours, what if they all..."

"Don't, they won't be. They're all gonna be fine, I promise, alright?" He nodded, laying back down. After that, we all tried to get as much sleep as we could before we headed for Atlanta tomorrow. Well, me and Rick would. Morgan wanted to stay here for a few more days. 'Sort some things out' he said.

~~~

As we walked into the police station, Morgan and Duane gasped. Barely any of the guns had gone, and there was definitely plenty of ammo.

"How much is here?" I asked Rick.

"Easy 700 rounds, maybe more." I nodded my head, picking up a rifle and slinging it over my shoulder. "Come on, they have showers." Rick showed me to the girls showers, and I locked the door, not letting go of my knife.

After we had showered, we all met outside around a couple of cars. Morgan was planning to teach Duane a little bit of shooting before they came to Atlanta.

"I hope you find your families, I really do. Family is everything now a days." Morgan said, hugging me. I nodded, looking over the fence.

"Bye Amy." Duane hugged me too, before running back to the car and picking up a gun. We got in our separate cars and drove away. When we were on the road into the city, Rick picked up the walkie talkie thing, speaking into it. I zoned out, watching the side of the road, taking everything in. It was hard to believe that 2 days ago, I was still in a coma. Suddenly, the car stopped.

"Damn, been riding red for the last hour." Rick muttered, as we both exited the car. "Come on, I see a house up ahead, maybe they have some gas, if they're alive." We walked down the road. Rick walked up to the house, while I stayed outside, stroking a horse. "Nothing, we can..."

"What?" He looked from me to the horse. "You want us to ride that thing into the city?" He nodded.

"Yeah, can you get these reins on it?" I nodded, taking them from him and putting them on the horse. He climbed on, holding his hand out for me to help. I jumped up, holding onto Rick's waist. "Hold on tight." He said, before kicking the horse into motion.

~~~

As we rounded a corner in the city, I almost screamed. At least 50 walkers turned to us and started running after us. We got about 100 yards before another herd was on the other side of us. Me and Rick both shouted, jumping off the horse. As we climbed up a tank, I saw the horse being eaten alive, and clearly so did Rick. He gagged, pulling me into the tank.

"I dropped the guns, we've gotta..."

"Rick, no. They'll kill you. Stay..." I heard a groan from next to me. The dead soldier inside the tank wasn't so dead. I took my knife and stuck it in his skull. Rick gagged again before taking any guns and ammo from his pockets. We were just about to make a run for it when a voice came up on the radio.

"Hey you, yeah you, dumbasses in the tank. Cozy in there?"


	2. They're Alive?

*Amy*

"Whoever you are, I don't mind telling you that we're a little concerned in here." Rick said in reply to the voice. There was a shuffling sound on the other end before a reply.

"You're surrounded by walkers. If I was you, I'd make a run or it while they're distracted..." I frowned. "Making lunch out of your horse." I covered my mouth for a minute.

"The guns, can you see the bag of guns? Can we get to them?" I asked hurriedly. There was a sigh.

"Look, forget the bag. It's not an option!" Rick grabbed a grenade from the soldiers pocket and I picked up a metal bar before we opened the top hatch. A walker looked up and grabbed for Rick's leg, so I smacked it with the pole. We jumped down from the tank, running up a nearby alleyway, Rick shooting some walkers along the way. We both stopped suddenly as we turned a corner to see a not so dead person. "Woah, not dead!" He said, panicked.

"No shit." I muttered, but he didn't hear me. We scrambled up a ladder, stopping to catch our breath halfway up.

"Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood. Are you the new sheriff? Come riding in to clean up the town?" The Asian guy asks, looking at Rick. "I'm Glenn." He says, shaking both our hands.

"Amy." I said. "Thanks for saving our lives out there, didn't have to." Rick nodded. As we were walking across the roof, I asked, "Why did ya save us?"

"Call it foolish naive hope that if I'm ever that far up shit creek, somebody would do the same for me. Guess that makes me an even bigger dumb ass than you two." I rolled my eyes and we followed Glenn down a staircase into an alleyway, which had 4 walkers in it. Glenn said something to his radio, and straight away, two men in riot gear carrying baseball bats appeared, beating down the walkers.

"Come on." Rick dragged me into the building behind Glenn, the two other men following shortly behind. As we stepped inside, a woman pulls a gun out, pointing it at Rick's face.

"We're dead because of you." She snaps at him. I smirk slightly, noticing the safety catch still being on her gun.

"Gunshots attracted scores of walkers." A man said, looking towards the front doors.

"You just rang the dinner bell." The woman with the gun, apparently Andrea, said to Rick. The whole group turned their attention towards the walkers banging on the door. One even had a rock in it's hand, slowly cracking the glass.

"What were you two doing, wandering the city like that? Especially now." One of the group asked.

"I was trying to flag down a helicopter."

"Hallucinations, there is no helicopters. Everything's gone." Jacqui replied.

"I saw it." Rick snapped. I looked over to another man who I now know as T-Dog, who was trying to make radio contact with someone. I stopped listening for a minute, focusing on the walkers which had nearly broken the first pane of glass. I snapped my head round after hearing a gunshot.

"Oh god, is that Dixon?" Andrea asked in shock. I swallowed and Rick looked at me, holding onto my arm.

"What if it's him? They're alive, Rick. That means your family could be too." I tried to smile, but couldn't because of my hands shaking.

"You staying here then?" Glenn asked. I shook my head, following behind Rick onto the roof. As I stepped through the door, I stopped in my tracks. Merle had a gun pointed at the group. Rick looked at me. 'Merle' I mouthed, walking forwards slightly.

"I don't take orders from a taco-vendor and a nigger." Merle said, swinging the gun around, making sure to point it at everyone. He froze when he saw me. "Amy?" Everyone turned their heads to look at me. He jumped down from the wall he was standing on, walking over to me and hugging me with one arm. "Y'alright?" I nodded.

"Are they...?"

"They're all alive. Daryl, Jack, Lydia. They're fine." I smiled, but it didn't last long, because Merle turned around, pointing the gun at everyone again. "Now, I propose a change in leadership." I rolled my eyes and turned around, looking at Rick. He had a pair of cuffs in his hand. I nodded.

"No other way to control him." I muttered, watching Merle, who had a gun on T-Dog's head. Just as Merle began shouting again, Rick hit him on the back of the head, making him fall to the floor. He grabbed Merle's wrist, cuffing him to a pipe.

"Things are different now. There's us, and he dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart." Rick snapped at Merle, making him smirk. He presses a gun to Merle's head.

"Ya won't do it, you're a cop." He scoffed, looking up at me. "Gonna let him do this?" I shrugged.

"Jack would. Even to you. Never know when to shut up, do ya Dixon?" He rolled his eyes, looking back to Rick.

"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anyone who gets in the way of that is gonna lose." Rick said, tilting his head to the right. He reached into Merle's pocket, finding a little bag of cocaine, and throwing it off the roof. Merle sighs.

"Hey, whatcha doin?" Rick ignores him, turning round and walking over to me.

"The other two, your brother, and his." He looked over to Merle, the entire group now listening to us. "Are they like that." I shook my head.

"No." He didn't turn away from me. "Are ya gonna leave him here?" I pointed towards Merle, who was saying something to Andrea.

"If it comes to that..."

"Well then they will be. No, they won't be as bad...they'll be worse." Glenn coughed, so we all turned to him.

"You're that Amy? Jack's sister?" I nodded, tilting my head at him. "Guys, we need to find another way out. If we stay here much longer, we'll be dead. Amy, stay here with T-Dog. He's gonna keep trying for a signal, watch Merle would ya?" I nodded, walking over to him, watching the rest of them walk through the door.

We were sat on that roof for a while before the rest of the group came back up. Rick and Glenn had gone out onto the street. 'Covered in dead guts', T-Dog told me. We all watched from the roof. I could just about see them. Just as we thought they were going to make it, there was a crack of thunder, and it started raining, heavily. Rick swung an axe at a walker and him and Glenn started running. They turned a corner and we couldn't see them anymore.

"Amy, come on!" Andrea shouted, trying to drag me through the door.

"No, we can't just leave him there. Andrea, no!" T-Dog slammed the door shut, chaining it around the handle. I could hear Merle shouting. "No!"

"Come on." T-Dog grabbed my arm, dragging me down the stairs. "Amy, we gotta go. They'll leave without us."

"But ya fine with them leavin' without Merle?" I snapped, he dragged me into the back of the van, sitting next to me.

"I dropped the key." He muttered, looking down guilty and ashamed.

"How bad will they be now?" Rick turned to look at me, everyone else doing the same.

"I told you, leave him there, y'ain't gonna survive the night." I snapped as Glenn drove past in a very loud red Dodge Challenger...


	3. He Ain't Here

*Amy*

I glared over the back seat at Rick as he talked to Morales. When I met Rick, I thought he was alright. I can't believe he left Merle on that roof. I also couldn't wait to see Daryl and Jack's reactions. When we pulled up in the camp, everyone got out the van, except Rick, who climbed into the back where I was stood, my arms folded.

"Amy, listen. I'm sorry, you saw what he was like, he would have killed everyone." I rolled my eyes, trying to step around him. He grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

"He wouldn't have, he would'a just shut up if you'd of left him." Rick shook his head, shifting his feet. Before he could reply, Morales shouted.

"Hey helicopter kids, come on out. Come meet everyone." I sighed and jumped out the van, Rick following shortly behind. I stopped suddenly, making him almost walk into me.

"Amy?" Jack and Lydia said at the same time. I ran over to them, both of them hugging me at the same time. Lydia started crying.

"I thought you were dead. That day, at the school, we all thought you were gonna die. We never thought we'd see you again." She said in between tears. After a minute, Jack let go of me, Lydia doing the same. He looked behind me towards the van. I gulped.

"Merle?" I looked up at him, then over to everyone else. Rick was hugging a woman and boy. That must be Lori and Carl. Slowly, the whole group looked over to us. I looked back to Jack, shaking my head. He ran his hand through his hair, making an annoyed sound. "He dead?" I shrugged.

"I dunno, they dragged me off the roof 'fore I could..." Jack kicked a stone at the van.

"So, not only do you abandon my best friend, on a roof, but you touch her too?!" He yelled, looking back at me. I ran over to him, grabbing his arm.

"Jack, don't. Come on." He started following me. "Where's Daryl?" I said, making sure the others heard.

"Hunt. He'll be back tomorrow mornin' probably." He paused. "And he's not gonna be happy 'bout this either!" He raised his voice again, making me flinch. "Sorry, come on." He led me back to the tent, Lydia following shortly behind.

"Amy, what happened with Merle?" She asked when Jack was out of earshot.

"He was pointin' his gun at everyone, tryin'a kill 'em, Rick cuffed him to a pipe, T-Dog chained the door, he..."

"What?" She shook my arm.

"He chained the door!" I stood up, running over to where Jack was shouting at a guy called Shane. "He chained the door, Jack." They stopped talking, most people watching me again. "T-Dog, he chained the door."

"Yeah, what's ya point?" Jack shoved me sideways. T-Dog coughed, making us look at him.

"Her point is, no walkers are gettin' onto that roof. Dixon's alive, and he's still up there." Jack started pacing, kicking dirt as he walked.

"Well then what we waitin' for, lets go!"

"Waitin' for Daryl, dummy." I stepped in front of him, pushing him back.

"Fine." He growled, storming into the tent. Rick walked over to me, finally letting go of that boy. He stood in front of me, an apologetic look on his face.

"Told you he'd be bad. You haven't even met Daryl yet." I muttered.

"He's worse?" Rick asked. I nodded, looking at Lydia, who did the same.

~~~

Later that night, we sat around a campfire, a lot of people I hadn't seen yet were there. An old man who owned the RV called Dale. A woman with short hair called Carol, and her daughter Sophia and husband Ed. Morales' wife and kids, a man called Jim. And others. I sat next to Jack on a log, Lydia on the other side of me. Shane sat back down after arguing with Ed about fire wood.

"So, what exactly are you gonna tell Daryl?" Dale asked Rick, who looked over at me.

"Don't matter, he's gonna be pissed." I said, shifting my legs.

"So you're just gonna tell him the truth. I haven't known him long, but I can't see a rational discussion coming from that." I scoffed.

"Ain't nuthin' ya can say that'll get a rational discussion out'a Daryl." I muttered, hearing Jack laugh. Dale sighed. After a while, everyone went off to their tents. Lydia had fallen asleep, so I made Jack carry her. He threw her onto a bed in the tent and turned to me.

"That one's Daryl's, sleep there." He pointed to a bed in the corner. I took off my jacket and boots, curling up in the sheets. They smelt like Daryl. I sighed, closing my eyes.

~~~

I woke up to shouting. I looked over to Lydia, who had woken up at the same time as me. We both pulled our shoes on and ran outside. Everyone seemed to be running in the direction of the woods, so we followed.

"Carl!" I saw Lori running under the tin cans tied around the camp. She stopped dead, holding onto Carl as the rest of the group caught up. Jack pulled me towards him, pushing me behind him. I looked over to see a walker chewing on a dead deer.

"We've never had one in camp before." Shane announced, looking around at everyone. I sighed, stepping slightly in front of Jack. I gasped when I saw a flash of green on the deer. I stepped towards it, ignoring Jack. Some of the other guys had managed to remove the walkers head with an axe. I remembered what Daryl said in the note. 'Kill the brain, or they just keep coming'. I reached for the arrow, pulling it out.

"Amy, what are you doing?" Rick asked, stepping forwards.

"It's Daryl's." I passed the arrow to Jack, who looked at it and nodded.

"You sure?" I looked at him, a look that said 'well, obviously'. Everyone's heads snapped towards the trees as we heard a twig break. Jack pulled me back behind him. Lydia hugged me, making it so I was further back.

"Y'ain't running off into danger again." She muttered. I smiled, letting go of her arms.

"Son of a bitch." I heard an all too familiar voice say. I ran forwards again, stopping dead. "Amy? Oh my god!" Daryl dropped his crossbow, something I'd never seen him do. I ran over to him, jumping into his arms. He buried his head in my hair. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too, Dixon." I lifted his head up, looking into his eyes. He put me down, still hugging me.

"Oh my god, you're alive!" Daryl practically screamed, swinging me around. I hesitated. "What?"

"Yeah, Merle...not so good." He let go of me, storming up towards camp.

"Merle! Merle, get your ugly ass out here, got us some squirrel!" He shouted, ignoring me.

"Daryl, stop!" Rick shouted, making him stop. "There was a problem in Atlanta."

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl snapped.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, got sumthin' ya wanna tell me?" He shouted, swinging his arm. Rick stepped closer.

"Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed him to a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." He said the last part quieter, sounding guilty.

"Hold on...let me process this." Daryl swivelled his arm around. "So you handcuffed my brother to a roof..." He took the squirrels off his shoulder. "And you left him there!" He shouted, his voice breaking slightly. Rick nodded his head once, which made Daryl even angrier. He threw the squirrels in Rick's general direction, trying to hit him. Shane tackled him, putting him in a headlock. "Best let me go." He snapped.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane replied sarcastically.

"Choke hold's illegal." Daryl said, a tiny bit calmer.

"File a complaint." Shane said, making me laugh. Daryl glared at me.

"You can shut up!" He snapped at me.

"Hey, don't yell at her. I dropped the key." T-Dog stepped forward, his head down.

"Couldn't pick it up?" Daryl said, now that Shane had let him go.

"Dropped it down a drain, Daryl." I snapped at him, only growing angrier at his inability to be calm for more than a minute. He turned to me, his expression changing to something unreadable.

"You just let 'em leave him there?" He stepped closer to me. I pushed him away with my hand on his chest.

"They dragged me away, I tried to stop..."

"Who did, who touched ya?" He started getting angry again. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you care? It was all my fault a minute ago." I glared at him. He sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"'M'sorry Amy, but he's my brother. I gotta find him." I nodded.

"I know. And don't even think about sayin' I can't come with ya, cos I am." He hesitated but nodded, pulling me up into the back of the van.

"Hang on, don't we get a say in this?" Jack said, Lydia stood next to him.

"No." I stated, pulling the shutter down on the back of the van. As the van set off and we were sat in the back, Daryl took hold of my hand. "S'matter?"

"Nuthin', I'm just sorry, for yellin' at ya. I missed ya, don't hate me do ya?" I shook my head.

"Told ya before, I'd never hate ya." He kissed my head, laying my head down on his shoulder.

~~~

We climbed through a broken fence in Atlanta as we got out the van.

"Guns first or Merle?" Rick asked Glenn.

"Merle, we ain't even havin' this conversation." Daryl yelled.

"We are." Rick snapped.

"Come on Rick, really?" I tilted my head at him. He ignored me, turning to Glenn.

"Merle's closest. Guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." He said, looking at Daryl. We set off walking towards the department store. As soon as we walked through the doors, Daryl shot a walker with his crossbow. I'd always found it hot when he had that thing, even more so when he wasn't wearing sleeves.

"Come on!" He shouted, running towards the doors to the stairwell. As we reached the door, T-Dog cut the chain with the wire cutters he'd borrowed from Dale. Daryl kicked the door open, running through the tiny gap. "Merle! Merle!" His voice cracked slightly.

"He ain't here." I muttered, watching Daryl. We all stopped where he should have been. All that was left was the handcuffs, a bloody hacksaw, and Merle's severed hand. "Oh my god." I whispered, looking back to Daryl.

"No, No!" He yelled, his voice breaking...


	4. Vatos

*Daryl*

"No!" I heard my voice break as I shouted. I quickly stopped, turning and pointing my crossbow at T-Dog's head. Not a second later, I heard Rick point a gun at my head. Not lowering the bow, I slowly turned my eyes, glaring.

"I'll do it. I don't care if every walker in the city hears." I pursed my lips, looking at Amy, who seemed to be holding back tears. I sighed, lowering the crossbow. I glanced at the floor before looking up at T-Dog.

"You gotta do-rag or sumthin'?" He didn't say anything as he pulled a scruffy blue wrag from his pocket, slowly handing it to me. I bent down, putting Merle's hand onto the wrag. "Ain't that a bitch." I muttered.

"You okay?" I turned round. Rick had his hand on Amy's arm. She nodded, looking down at the floor. "Sure?" She looked up. Her eyes were slightly red, I guess she was pretty good at hiding emotions. Hell, she was pretty good at a lot of things.

"M'fine." She muttered, looking at me. I smiled slightly, picking up the hand and putting it in Glenn's bag. He looked like he was gonna throw up. "Daryl?"

"Hmm." Amy was now stood right next to me, making me jump slightly. She pointed at the floor.

"Follow the blood." I looked, only just noticing the pretty obvious trail of blood leading to the side of the roof. I felt something touch my arm. Looking down, I saw Amy's tiny hand wrapped around my wrist. "It's okay." She tried to smile.

"Come on." I started walking forward, most of the group right behind me. T-Dog grabbed the saw and toolbox, following shortly behind.

~~~

I followed the blood trail all the way through to a kitchen, killing a walker on the way. I felt Amy's grip on my wrist tighten slightly as I did. I smirked, knowing how she liked that. We walked into the kitchen. Glenn was looking at the oven, even paler than before. There was blood and skin all over the burner.

"What is that?" He asked, turning away. I rolled my eyes. Amy let go of my wrist, looking closer at the oven.

"He cauterised the stump." She muttered, looking over at me. I tried to hold back a smile.

"Nobody can kill Merle but Merle." I said, reloading my crossbow. Amy rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. I nudged her, making her shove me backwards.

"I'll help you look for him, you?" Rick said, looking over to Glenn and T-Dog. T-Dog scoffs.

"Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?" He said. Rick nodded, and we headed through another door.

~~~

Glenn drew a rough map of the area on an old whiteboard. He said me and Amy had to watch his back from an alley while he ran out. He'd put Rick and T-Dog around a corner. 'Just in case.' He said.

"Hey kid, what'd ya do before all this?" I asked, curious.

"Delivered pizzas, why?" I raised an eyebrow, hearing Amy laugh.

~~~

I held Amy's hand, helping her down from the ladder. She was smiling when I looked at her.

"Don't lie, ya was checkin' out my ass the whole time." She nudged me. I felt my cheeks burn.

"Maybe." I winked at her, raising an eyebrow. She licked her top lip, teasing me. "Stop. We got stuff to do." She rolled her eyes, hiding behind me and Glenn. "Got some balls for a Chinaman." I said to Glenn.

"I'm Korean." He sighed before running towards the tank.

"Whatever." I said. Amy wrapped her arms around my waist, making my flinch.

"Sorry. Just...be careful." I kissed her forehead.

"Always." I said, standing up, coming face to face with some kid. "Lookin' for my brother, he's hurt real bad, ya seen him?" I said, pointing my crossbow at him. He started shouting something in a different language. "What's he sayin'?" I asked Amy.

"Help me." She said, turning towards where Glenn was just about through the gate. I could hear footsteps, not knowing if it was Rick and T-Dog, or this kids buddies. Before I could react, 2 men jumped me, knocking me to the floor. They barely touched me though, they just went for the gun bag. Glenn tried not to give it up, stumbling when one of the men shoved him. I shot an arrow in the guys ass, making him scream in pain. The guy who was with him stopped, looking over to Amy, who was frozen.

"Leave her alone!" But before I was even stood up, they snatched her and shoved her in the car, driving away quickly. I turned round, again pointing my crossbow at the kid. "Where've they gone?!" Rick grabbed me, pulling me away from him. "I'm gonna stomp your ass!" I shouted, trying to get away.

"Come on." Rick dragged the kid back up the ladder, me and Glenn following him.

"If she's hurt, you're dead." I snapped.

~~~

"They came out of nowhere and jumped me. His buddies." I say, smacking the kid, apparently Miguel, over the head. He gulped.

"Hey, you jumped me." He shouted.

"Ssh. We're not alone here." Rick snapped.

"They took Amy, could have took Merle too." I raised my crossbow slightly, lowering it straight away.

"Merle? What kind of hick name's that. Wouldn't even name my dog Merle." Miguel said, a slight smirk on his face. I clenched my fists, storming over to where Glenn had put his bag. I pulled out Merle's hand, throwing it in the kids lap. He made a noise, clearly freaked out.

"See what happened to the last guy who messed with me. I'll start with the feet this time." Rick pulled on my arm.

"Daryl, if we kill him, his 'buddies' could kill Amy. That what you want?" I shook my head, stepping back slightly. Rick knelt down, talking to the kid. Eventually, I saw him nod. Rick turned round, looking to T-Dog and nodding.

~~~

Miguel led us to an abandoned factory building. He shouted something which made the doors open, and a tiny little man walked out, a smirk on his face. Rick said about trading Miguel for Amy.

"What about my bag of guns?" The guy, G, asked.

"That's where you're mistaken, this is my bag of guns." Rick said, shaking his head at me.

"Yours? It was just lying there in the street, anyone could have taken it."

"Lookin' for my brother, seen him?" I snapped, growing more and more inpatient.

"Sorry, fresh outta white boys, but we got a girl, interested?" He looked behind him and nodded. "I see two options. You come back with Miguel and m bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded. We'll see which side spills more blood." I heard a scrabbling, which made me, Rick, Glenn and T-Dog look up. I pointed my crossbow when I saw two men holding Amy at the edge of the roof, tape on her mouth and her wrists tied together.

"Best let her go." I snapped. Rick dragged me away while I watched as they dragged Amy back inside.

~~~

"This could be dangerous, we could die." Rick said.

"So?" I didn't see the point of this, it was Amy in there. I couldn't just let those assholes have her.

"So you guys go back to camp."

"And tell your family what?" T-Dog asked. For once I agreed with the guy. Rick sighed and loaded his gun, everyone doing the same. We drag Miguel back to the warehouse, where G and the others are pointing guns back at us. He cut Miguel loose, shoving him forwards.

"Now we want Amy." I snapped.

"And I want my bag of guns." Rick shook his head. "I'm gonna chop that girl up, feed her to the dogs. Three of the most vicious creatures you ever saw. Got 'em from Satan at a yard sale." I rolled my eyes, playing with the catch on the gun.

"You said come locked and loaded, we're here." We all raised our guns, walking slightly towards the door. An old woman walks slowly up behind the guy I shot in the ass.

"Get that old lady out of the line of fire." I snapped, pointing my gun to the side. She says something to Rick about not arresting 'Felipe'.

"I'm not here to arrest your grandson. We're just looking for our friend." She stops frowning and looks at me.

"The girl. She's with Mr Gilbert. You Daryl?" I nodded. She took my hand and pulled me through some buildings and into what looked like an old folks home. We walk through a door to see a group of people, including Amy, stood in a circle around someone.

"Amy?" She turned around and ran into my arms. "Thought ya were been eaten by dogs." She laughed, looking at 3 chihuahuas that were yapping at us. Rick pulls G over to the side and says something to him. I turn back to Amy.

"I'm fine, nobody hurt me." I laughed, kissing her slightly on the lips. I turned round to see Rick handing some guns over to the guys. I went to say something, but Amy grabbed my hand. "Leave it." I sighed.

"Fine, come on." She followed me as we walked away, back towards the van.

~~~

"Admit it, ya only came back for the hat." I heard Amy say to Rick. He laughed.

"Don't tell anybody." We stopped in our tracks as we noticed the van gone.

"Who'd take it?" Glenn asked, looking around as if he thought it was hiding behind a rock.

"Merle." Rick growled.

"He's gonna be takin' some vengeance back to camp." I said, taking Amy's hand as we set off running back to camp, no other cars in sight.

~~~

As we approached the quarry, multiple screams could be heard. We loaded our guns and started sprinting.

"Told ya all that runnin' in the woods would be useful." Amy panted, smirking at me. I nudged her. We ran into camp, seeing walkers everywhere. Amy shot a bullet to where I couldn't see anything. I nodded when I saw that she had just saved Lydia, who ran over and hugged her.

"Merle?" She whispered. Amy shook her head, looking at me.

"Get behind me." I shouted at them both, Lydia refusing to let Amy go. We continued shooting at all the walkers until we thought they were all gone. Jack walked over to Amy, hugging her before looking over at me. I shook my head, looking down.

"Is that all of them?" Shane shouted. Just as I was about to reply, a walker appeared behind Jack and bit down onto his neck. Amy screamed, trying to grab him. I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her back.

"No! Jack!" She screamed, her words barely audible through the tears.

"Oh my god." I heard Lydia mutter through tears as she also hugged Amy. She looked up at me, then over to Jack's now dead body.

"I'm sorry Amy." She wrapped her arms around my waist, silent tears falling down her cheeks as the entire camp stood in shock...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry...I'm an awful person :(


	5. The Aftermath

*Amy*

"Morgan, I don't know if you're out there. I don't know if you can hear me. Maybe you're listening right now. I hope so. We found others, me and Amy - our families, if you can believe it. Amy lost her brother last night, our camp was attacked. There's something else you need to know. Atlanta isn't what we thought. It's not what they promised. The city is...do not enter the city, it belongs to the dead now. Come and find us, we're just outside the city by a quarry. Take care of Duane, I'll try again at dawn." Rick stopped then, dropping his head slightly.

"You okay?" I said from the tree I was leaned against. Rick jumped slightly. "Sorry."

"It's okay, how long were you there?" He pointed to the tree I was walking away from.

"Long enough. Morgan's gonna be fine, ya know that right?" He nodded, not looking convinced. "What is it?"

"It's just...the walkers are coming out of the city, more people could get hurt, more people could..." He paused. "More people could die."

"They won't. We have the guns now. We'll be okay. Come on, lets go." We walked slowly back down to what was left of the camp.

~~~

"She's been there all night, won't talk to anyone." Lori said as Rick and I approached her and Shane.

"I'll tell her how it is." Rick said and walked quickly over to Andrea, who was cradling her sisters body in her arms. Before Rick even said anything, she pulled a gun on him, which made him back away pretty quick. I jumped as I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey." Daryl said, holding a pickaxe behind his back. I wrapped my arms around his waist, making him stiffen. I frowned and let go.

"What's up?" He sighed, pulling me away from the others.

"Ya sure ya okay? I mean ya just..."

"I know I just lost my brother. I noticed that, thanks. I'm fine, just leave it okay?" I tried to walk away from him to where Lydia was sat near Jack's body, but he grabbed my arm.

"Amy, wait. I'm sorry. Cm'ere." He hugged me into his chest, stroking my hair. "I'll look after ya." I smiled.

"I know. What are they yellin' about?" I asked, looking over to Glenn and Morales, who were dragging bodies to be burnt.

"We don't burn them, we bury them!" Glenn shouted, his voice breaking slightly. They proceeded to move the bodies onto a different pile. Jacqui and Jim were moving bodies onto a different pile. He started backing away from her.

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!" She shouted. Daryl shoved the pickaxe into my hands and stormed over to him. T-Dog grabs Jim's arms and Daryl lifts his shirt up. Everyone makes some kind of shocked noise.

~~~

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head." Daryl said, looking over to Jim.

"Daryl, no. He's still alive." I said, frowning at him. He sighed, kicking his feet in the dirt.

"Yeah, for how long?" He muttered. Rick steps towards him.

"We don't kill the living. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?" He snapped.

"Line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers." Daryl said, snatching the pickaxe from my hands. I rolled my eyes, walking away from them towards Lydia. When she saw me, she stood up and hugged me, pulling me to sit back down with her.

"He's really gone." She whispered, looking at Jack. I gulped.

"Yeah, he is."

"Oh I'm so sorry." She said through tears, hugging me again. I clenched my teeth, trying not to cry.

"It's okay. It's gonna be okay." I mumbled, rubbing one hand on her back. She looked up at me, then over to the group. Her eyes widened and she gasped. I turned round to follow her gaze.

"We don't kill the living." Rick growled, his gun pointed at Daryl's head for the second time in 24 hours.

"S'funny, comin' from a guy who just put a gun to my head." He snapped back. Shane steps in-between them, pushing them away from each other. I don't know what he said, but it made Daryl storm off towards the tent. I followed him, hearing Lydia right behind me.

"I'll go wait with the group." She said, walking away before I could respond. I unzipped the tent, seeing Daryl sat on the floor by the bed.

"What." He snapped, not even looking over.

"Sorry, ya want me to..." He stood up and walked to me.

"Stay 'ere. Come on." He sat down in the same spot as before. I sat beside him, resting my head on his shoulder. He wrapped both his arms around me. "It's okay, relax." He said, running his hand through my hair.

~~~

Daryl held onto my, Lydia holding my other hand as we stood by the graves. Whilst walking back to camp, Daryl ran off somewhere to fetch his truck. When we got to the tent, Lydia collapsed on the bed, burying her head in the pillow. I heard light sobs, but not as much as earlier.

"Y'okay?" I sat on the edge of mine and Daryl's bed. She looked up.

"Will be. You?" I nodded. Just then, Daryl walked in, not stepping inside.

"Come on, group's gathering." He held my hand as we arrived to where the rest of the group was.

"In the morning, we're leaving for the CDC. I think we should trust Rick's instinct. Anyone who agrees, we're leaving in the morning." Shane announced before everyone went their separate ways. As we entered the tent, Lydia fell straight asleep before Daryl even closed the door.

"Come on." I mumbled, taking off my shoes and lying down. Daryl smirked, crawling onto the bed and kissing my neck. I shoved his chest, laughing. "Daryl, no. She'll wake up." He growls.

"Nah, she's out." He muttered, moving his lips down to the top of my vest. I pulled on his hair, lifting his head up. He was glaring at me.

"Daryl...not now." He sighed but laid down next to me, pulling me into his arms.

"M'sorry. I just...I missed ya." He muttered, shifting his feet to take his shoes off.

"Don't worry. They'll probably have beds at the CDC. Then we can..." I bit my lip, staring innocently at him.

"Don't. Stop with the damn teasin'" He smirked, pulling the blanket over our bodies. "Night."

"Love you." I mumbled, already half asleep.

"Love ya too Amy." I heard Daryl say before I couldn't stay awake any longer.

~~~

As the group gathered after loading everyones stuff into the car, Daryl wrapped an arm around my waist. I was travelling in his truck. Lydia was going in the RV. As Shane announced which channel the radios would be on, Morales stepped forwards to say something.

"We're erm...we're not going. We have family in Birmingham. We're gonna go there. Gotta do what's best for my family." He said, looking back at them and smiling. Shane sighed, handing him a gun as his kids were hugging Carl and Sophia. We all climb into our cars and leave the camp behind us. A while later, everyone in front stops.

"Hose is bust." Dale said, looking at the front of the RV. As everyone discussed that, Lydia and Jacqui come running out the RV.

"It's Jim. It's bad." Jacqui says. Lydia ran over and hugged me.

"He's gonna die, isn't he?" I couldn't lie, so I just nodded. She sniffled, looking over to Daryl. He gave her one of his awkward half smiled. She giggled at him and ran back inside.

"Hey, Amy?" Daryl grabbed my wrist.

"What's wrong?" He pulled me closer to him, looking concerned.

"I need ya to promise me sum thin'" I nodded. "If I ever get bit, ya gotta finish it." I snatched my hand away, shaking my head.

"No. No, I can't. No, Daryl, I can't." I paced in front of him. He grabbed my shoulders.

"Ya can, I know ya can. Please Amy. Ya the only one I trust, none of these idiots is puttin' a bullet in my head." He tried to smile, tilting my chin to look at him. I kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Okay." He hugged me before looking over to the RV. The guys seemed to be moving Jim outside. "What they doin?" We walked over to them.

"He wants to be left here." Lydia said. I jumped, not realising she was behind me. "Sorry." She said.

"Thanks for fighting for us." Dale told him tearfully, before turning round and getting back into the RV.

~~~

As we approached the CDC, the smell was overwhelming. There was hundreds of dead bodies, military and civilian, all over the ground outside the big white building. We tiptoed towards it, no-one making a sound.

"It's deserted." Daryl snapped as we stood outside the locked doors.

"We don't know that." Rick replied defensively. Walkers started to notice us. Shane began to panic, rambling on about Fort Benning.

"We're out of gas...and food. We'd never make it." Andrea mumbled, looking around frantically. Everyone started to panic then, some crying, some just angry, like Daryl.

"We need a plan." Lori snapped at Rick.

"We'll think of something. We'll be okay." He tried to reassure her. "I made a call."

"Wrong fuckin' call." Daryl growled under his breath.

"Daryl, don't." I snapped at him. He tensed up, glaring at me. I rolled my eyes and look towards Rick. Everyone started to back away from the doors.

"It moved. The camera, it moved." He said, running back to the doors.

"It's automatic. Rick, lets go." Shane tried to pull him away, unsuccessfully. Rick banged his fists against the shutters.

"If you don't let us in, you're killing us! YOU'RE KILLING US!" He shouted, his voice breaking. Shane managed to start dragging him away. Just as he does, the shutters opened and we were all drowned in light...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter had smut.


	6. Lockdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SMUT

*Amy*

I covered my eyes as they began to adjust to the very bright light. Daryl dragged me towards the doors, following everyone else. As soon as we were all inside, I saw a man holding a gun stood peeping out from the corner.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" He asked, stepping cautiously from behind the wall.

"A chance." Rick answered, pushing Carl behind him.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." Rick nodded. "You all submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission." The doctor informed.

"We can do that." Lori said, pushing Carl even further behind her.

"Grab your things. Once this door closes, it stays closed." We all ran out to our cars to get our important bags. Daryl passed me my bag, a worried look in his eyes.

"What is it?" He glanced at me.

"I got a feelin'. Last time I had a feelin' like this, ya got shot." He sounded shaky. I held onto his hand as we locked the truck and went inside.

~~~

We all stood awkwardly in an elevator. Everyone was stood round the edges, except Carl. He was stood looking at the doctor.

"Doctors always go around packin' heat like that?" Daryl asked. I rolled my eyes.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarised myself. But you look harmless enough." He looked at Carl. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you." He smiled, making Carl laugh. We stepped out the elevator onto a white corridor.

"Are we underground?" Lydia asked.

"Why, you claustrophobic?" She nodded. "Try not to think about it." The doctor led us into a big room full of computers. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." All the lights switch on, making it all very bright again. I squinted my eyes, looking at Daryl, who's stood looking the other way. "Welcome to Zone 5."

"Where are all the other doctors?" I asked, noticing the emptiness of the place. The doctor looked down.

"I'm all that's left." He sighed. After that, we headed into another room for our blood tests. I stood leaned against a wall as the final test was done. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned round to see Daryl with the same worried expression.

"It'll be fine. Daryl, it's okay." He tried to smile, moving his hand to wrap his arm round my shoulders.

"Yeah? Said that just before ya got shot." He stared at me, waiting for an answer.

"And everything is fine. Besides, I said no-ones gonna die, not 'it'll be fine'." I mocked, shoving his chest. He grinned at me, wrapping his other arm around my waist and pushing up against me. I gasped as I felt the bulge in his pants pressing against my ass.

"See what ya do to me now?" He whispered in my ear, his hot breathe sending shivers down my spine.

"Daryl, we're in a room full of people." I laughed slightly as I whispered. He smirked, pulling me more towards him.

"I know." He stated. Our conversation was cut short as Andrea stood up and almost passed out.

"She hasn't eaten in days, none of us have." Jacqui told the doctor, Jenner. His face lit up, I assumed with an idea.

~~~

We all sat around a table in the cafeteria, laughing and drinking. Daryl was already drunk, but it didn't seem to change his personality much. Glenn tried to put his glass down, but Daryl stopped him.

"Not you little man." Daryl smirked at Glenn's confused expression. "I wanna see how red your face can get." Everyone laughs as Glenn slowly picks up his glass.

"Well when Carl's in Italy or France, then he can have some." Lori said to Dale. They were arguing about whether Carl should try wine. Eventually, Lori gave in and poured a bit into a cup. Carl took one sip and looked absolutely disgusted.

"I don't think we've properly thanked our host. To Jenner!" Rick raised his glass.

"Booyah!" Daryl shouted, everyone following his action. I held back a smirk as his arm muscles flexed when he lifted the glass. Shane began complaining and asking questions. After that, the good mood was almost gone.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill." A now very drunk Glenn muttered to him.

~~~

"There's a rec room down the hall, something you kids might enjoy." Carl and Sophia smiled. "Oh and don't use all the electricity. Go easy on the hot water."

"Hot water?!" Glenn gasped.

"That's what the man said." T-Dog replied, smiling at Glenn. We all went off into our rooms. Lydia said she wanted her own room, so she wasn't disturbed in the hot shower. As we walked into our room, Daryl collapsed on the sofa. I assumed he'd fallen asleep, so I stepped into the shower. Just as my whole body had been covered in soap and water, I heard the bathroom door open. I bit my lip as a completely naked Daryl stepped in the shower behind me, pushing himself against me.

"I'm gonna pay ya back. For all that teasin'." He growled in my ear. I turned around, raising an eyebrow, making him smirk. I ran my hand down his chest, all the way down until I reached his cock. He groaned, kissing down my neck. For a second, he removed his lips from my neck to lift me up, wrapping my legs around him. "Ya ready? Been waiting ages for this." Daryl mumbled in my ear, pushing me back against the wall.

"Course I'm re...ahh." I moaned as he pushed the tip of his cock inside me. I could feel his breathe against my neck, struggling not to moan. "Quit teasin'." I glared at him as he ran his hand along the inside of my thighs. He laughed, shaking his head.

"Nuh-uh, told ya this is payback." He winked as he pushed another inch into me. I held onto his shoulders, leaving scratches on his back.

"Daryl..." He stopped moving, looking innocently at me.

"Hmm." He mumbled, pushing me right up to the wall, one arm under my ass to stop me from falling.

"Stop. Teasin'." I glared at him when he laughed. "I mean it. Stop or I'll go into that room and we won't ever ha..." I was silenced as he smashed his lips to mine. The kiss was passionate and heated. It felt like it had been years.

"What ya want Amy? Huh?" Daryl lifted my chin up, now kissing everywhere except my lips. I frowned when he stopped and stared at me, raising an eyebrow. I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"I want you to fuck me. Fuck me so hard I can barely walk." He gasped as I pushed myself forward into his now very hard cock.

"Alright." He growled. I barely had time to even smile as he shoved himself all the way in, giving me no time to adjust. I moaned so loud I was surprised no-one heard. "Hmm, like that?" He paused, teasing me again. I nodded, unable to speak properly.

"Ahh, yeah. Mm Daryl." I stuttered out in-between thrusts. Every time he thrust forward, he either moaned or growled. I couldn't decide which was hotter. Before long, I could feel his cock twitching inside me. I clenched around him, making him have to bite down on my neck so he didn't scream.

"Fuck." He muttered.

"Daryl, I'm..." I didn't even finish my sentence as I couldn't stop myself anymore. I came around him, making him throw his head back, tensing his arms up. I had just finished my orgasm when Daryl tightened his grip on my arms and emptied himself inside me. "Mm."

"Y'okay?" He asked as he put me down, passing me a cloth to clean myself up, again! I nodded, an involuntary smirk on my face. "Stop." He shoved me, carefully though. He didn't want to hurt me. "Well I guess ya do learn a new thing every day."

"What?" I frowned.

"Shower sex is fuckin' awesome!" He grinned as he held out his hand and helped me out the shower.

"Can't argue with that." He kissed me, pouting as I put one of his spare shirts on as pyjamas.

"No-ones gonna walk in. Just sleep naked, I don't mind." He winked at me.

"I know ya don't, but I don't wanna. Don't worry, that won't be the last time we have shower sex. We'll find another shower somewhere. If we have to leave." I added. He sighed, pulling his boxers on and collapsing on the sofa.

"Okay, but we're gonna have to snuggle pretty close, this sofa's bloody tiny." He complained. I smirked.

"Well I could always sleep on the floor..." I pouted at him as he sat up, lifting me on top of him as he laid on his back, grinning victoriously.

"Nah, I'll manage." I pushed him as I curled up in front of him, pushing my ass into him when he wrapped his arms around my waist. "Don't. I'm tired." He mumbled, pushing my arms away.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Night Daryl." I turned round and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you."

"Love ya too Amy." He kissed the back of my head before we both fell into a much needed sleep.

~~~

I groaned as Daryl passed me a glass of water. I watched Glenn make a noise like a walker every time someone moved. I smirked.

"Y'okay?" Daryl asked, sitting next to me. "Can ya walk?" He winked.

"Barely, but not noticeable." He frowned.

"I'll have to do a better job next time." He pushed his chair closer to mine, running his hand up my leg. I was only wearing my black shorts, so my whole leg was exposed. He smirked as he saw me try not to gasp.

"Daryl..." He just ignored me like he wasn't doing anything. He snatched his hand away when T-Dog appeared in the room.

"Powdered eggs for everyone!" He exclaimed, making Glenn groan again. I thanked him as he put some on my plate. Daryl just watched him.

"Be nice." I said, nudging him. He glared at me before angrily stabbing at the eggs on his plate. "Hey, don't be mad." He sighed, looking up at me.

"I'm not mad." He said, surprisingly calm. Just then, Jenner walked into the room.

"Doctor, I don't mean to bombard you with questions first thing in the morning..." Dale starts.

"But you will anyway." Jenner finished, turning around from the counter.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea stated. Jenner lead us into the control room we were in the day before.

"Vi, show Test Subject 19." The screen lit up and an X-ray image of a brain appeared. It took us through the stages of the transformation. After the person had re-animated, something flashed through it. A bullet, I assumed. Jenner sighed.

"I've been in the dark for almost a month now." He looked clueless. He didn't know what this thing was at all.

"So there's nothing left?" I asked, standing up straight.

"That's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea finished, looking at Jenner. Daryl held onto my hand, keeping me back.

"Don't mean to interrupt, but that clock," Dale pointed to a digital clock on the wall, "it's counting down. What happens at zero?"

"The basement generators, they run out of fuel."Jenner stated, walking quickly off, avoiding Ricks questions.

"Vi, what happenes when the basement generators run out of fuel?" Rick asks, waiting for an answer.

"When the clock reaches zero, building-wide decontamination will occur." The computer voice said.

"What does that even mean?" Daryl asked me as Rick, Shane, Glenn and T-Dog went to inspect the basement generators.

"I don't know, but I'm guessin' it ain't good." He pulled me close to his chest.

"Told ya I had a bad feelin'." He muttered. I looked up, rolling my eyes.

"This is not the time to be smug, Daryl. We could die." I whispered angrily. He kissed my head, his hand on my cheek.

"I know. I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna let that happen. I'll do whatever it takes to get us outta here." Just as he finished, I heard someone shout me.

"Amy? Where is everyone?" Lydia stood dazed in the doorway. I helped her down the slope and passed her some water.

"They went down to the generators, apparently, they stop when that clock gets to zero." She looked towards the door, then the clock. Her eyes widened with panic.

"Are we gonna die?" She squealed.

"Shut up." Daryl snapped, glancing over to Carl and Sophia, who were sat with their mothers.

"Daryl don't. If ya gonna be horrible, then leave." I whispered angrily. He growled and stormed off, probably to get drunk again.

~~~

"What?" Daryl snapped as I closed the door to our room. He was sat up slightly on the bed, drinking whiskey.

"Fine, be like that then." I glared, turning around to leave. I heard him put the bottle down, and next thing I knew he was stood behind me, spinning me round.

"M'sorry. I just...I got mad when she said it in front of the kids, ya know?" I smiled, looking up at him.

"It's okay. Come on, lets...hey why's the light just gone off?" I frowned as the room was filled with darkness. Daryl picked up the whiskey and we leaned out the door, seeing everyone else out there too.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" Daryl growled, stepping in front of Jenner. He sighed, stepping back slightly.

"The building, it's shutting itself down." He stated, walking towards the control room.

"That's stupid. How can a building do anything?" Daryl shouted after him. I sighed, taking his hand.

"Come on, lets go." We followed the rest of the group to the control room, Rick was there asking questions.

"The system is designed to keep the computers running until the last possible second." He said to Rick, who was stood in front of him, his arms folded.

"Why?" Jenner ignored him, looking up at the screen.

"It was the French. They stuck it out the longest before they too ran out of power. When that clock reaches zero, the building will decontaminate. You can't stop it without fuel." Jenner sat down, drinking the whiskey he'd taken from Daryl.

"Everyone, go get your things. We're leaving." Rick shouted. We all ran for the door, slowing slightly at the sound of alarms. We were just about to get out when the door slammed shut, locking us inside.

"Did he just lock us in?" Glenn muttered to himself.

"There's no point in struggling. Everything topside is locked down. When that door closes, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that." Jenner raised his voice slightly at Rick.

"Open the damn door!" Daryl yelled as he and Shane swung axes at the door.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner muttered, shifting his position of leaning on the side.

"Yeah? Well your head ain't!" Daryl swung the axe at his head. It took Rick, T-Dog and Dale to restrain him.

"We just want to keep trying. As long as we can. Please, you can't kill us like this." Lori pleaded. Jenner looks swayed.

"I told you, topsides locked down, I can't open that." He says as this door opens.

"I'm grateful." Rick thanks him as everyone else runs out.

"The day will come when you won't be." Jenner said, before pulling Rick closer and whispering something in his ear.

"Come on!" Daryl shouted, pulling on my arm. Lydia squealed as I pushed her forward and followed Daryl. He ran to our room, grabbing his crossbow and my bag. Once we got to the door, Daryl and Shane started with the axes again. It didn't even make a dent.

"Rick, I have something that might help." Carol said, stepping in front of Sophia.

"Carol, I don't really think a nail file's gonna help." Shane said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes. Carol ignored him.

"Your first morning in camp, when I washed your uniform? I found this in your pocket." She pulled out the grenade from the tank, handing it to Rick.

"Get down!" He shouted. Daryl pulled me behind a wall, his arms over my head. I heard a loud bang and glass shattering. I breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. We climbed out, Daryl swinging the axe at the walkers that were gathering outside.

"Come on. Daryl!" He turned around as I shouted. We climbed into the truck, watching everyone else. I couldn't see Dale, Andrea or Jacqui. I gasped. "Look!" I pointed to the window. Dale and Andrea were climbing out, running as fast as they could. They just got behind some sandbags in time before the CDC erupted into a huge fire explosion. The cars in front started, and we followed them.

"Y'alright?" Daryl asked, holding my hand as we drive.

"We're alive. That's good." I sighed, sitting back in my seat...


	7. The Herd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's been ages. Enjoy the new chapter :)

*Amy*

I clung on to Daryl as we sped down the highway on the bike. We'd had to abandon the truck, along with a few other vehicles for fuel. I heard Daryl curse under his breath as we approached a mass of smashed up cars. We were at the front of the group, so the others probably hadn't seen it yet. After riding forward slightly to find a safe path, Daryl turned the bike round and stopped it next to the RV window.

"You see a way through that?" Dale asked as Glenn looked up from the map. Daryl nodded and turned back around. The group followed as we almost made it through before I heard a noise. We stopped, turning to see that the hose on the RV had broke again.

"Fuck sake." Daryl muttered, parking the bike up on jumping off. He lifted me up before I even tried to get off myself. I frowned as he put me down. "What?"

"Nothin', just ya been nice." I laughed as he nudged me, turning to go look through the cars.

"Gather what ya can!" Shane shouted, and we split off looking through the cars. I heard a splash and looked down the road to see Glenn and Shane standing under a lorry full of water. I walked over to Daryl, who was siphoning fuel with T-Dog.

"Hey." He said as he put the hose down, wiping his face and looking at me, oil smeared all over his body. He scrunched up his nose before spitting some onto the grass.

"Charming." I smirked at him. He rolled his eyes and nudged T-Dog. They both looked up to where the group was. I spun round to hear groans and scrambling. T-Dog ran towards the group. I tried to follow him but Daryl stopped me.

"Stay wi' me. I told ya I'll look after ya." He pulled me closer to him, my face millimetres from his.

"What about Lydia?" I frowned, pushing his chest. He growled angrily, stepping back.

"Rather be with her than me? Go ahead, go on!" He snapped, pointing towards where the group were crawling under cars.

"Daryl, be quiet. They're gonna hear us." I whispered, starting to crawl under a lorry. Daryl knelt down, looking at me.

"Sorry. Just, stay 'ere. I'll be back." Before I could respond, he disappeared in the same direction T-Dog had. I almost forgot to breathe as the herd passed by me. I heard distant screams coming from the RV. "Shit." I muttered. I was just about to get up when I saw a pair of feet stood facing me. I saw the legs lower and let out a sigh of relief as Glenn looked at me.

"Come on. T-Dog cut his arm, its not bit but Daryl's helping him, told me to come and get you." I followed him to where the group were stood at the side of the road. I noticed Rick and Sophia missing.

"Daryl?" He turned round, a look of sadness in his eyes. He lifted his head to look slightly behind me. I almost jumped out of my skin as Lydia wrapped her arms around me, making gasping noises,

"I thought they were gonna get us Amy! Oh my God, I..." I stopped her mid-sentence.

"It's ok, they didn't. I'm gonna protect you, and Daryl's gonna protect us both." I turned around to see him smiling. He nodded and turned his attention back to the woods. It wasn't long before Rick came running out...alone.

"She's not with you?" Carol cried, her eyes following Rick.

~~~

"Come on, you'll be good. Remember what I taught ya?" Daryl asked as he slung his crossbow over his shoulder. I wrapped my hand around my knife, nodding. "Lets go!" He shouted over to the others. Before we left to go looking for Sophia, Lydia ran over to me.

"Amy? Be careful. I don't wanna loose you again." She said sadly. I hugged her before looking her in the eyes.

"I'll be okay." She glanced away. "I promise." I said with one of the half smiles I'd picked up from Daryl. She nodded and ran slightly back into the RV.

"Amy! Lets go." Daryl shouted, swinging his crossbow in the direction of the woods. I resisted sticking my tongue out at him and followed. As we were trying to follow the tracks, Glenn kept stepping on them. I could see Daryl getting frustrated.

"Hey! Ya okay?" I asked Daryl when he angrily kicked a tree stump and pushed Glenn out of the way. He grunted in reply then stopped suddenly. I looked down, following his eyes.

"She was doin' fine til just here. All she had to do was keep goin' straight. Veered off to the right here." He pointed at the floor into the trees. I looked up, seeing it had started to go dark. "You three head back, me and Rick are gonna keep lookin' for a bit." Daryl looked to Shane, who nodded.

"Daryl?" I whispered as he stood slightly away from the others. He sighed.

"Amy, please don't argue. Just go back, I'll be there before ya know it." He tried to smile as he fiddled with the knife in his hand.

"Okay." I said slightly louder. He'd be back soon, right? I kissed him on the cheek before running to catch up with Shane and Glenn.

~~~

"So if we get the RV fixed up and turned round, we can double back to this bypass here." Glenn pointed at the map on the hood of a car.

"Can't be soon enough for me. I'm still freaked out about that herd that passed us by. Or...whatever you call it." Andrea looked around nervously.

"Herd...that sounds about right." Shane added, staring at Andrea. He then wandered off to look through more cars. I could see Andrea talking to Dale, a frustrated look on her face.

"I just want my gun back!" She practically shouted. Dale shook his head and said something, something which made Andrea storm off angrily. Just as I started walking over to them, Glenn shouted pointing to the woods. I looked towards where he was pointing, breathing a sigh of relief as I saw Daryl and Rick. My smile disappeared in a flash as I saw Sophia wasn't with them.

"You didn't find anything?" Carol cried, stopping in front of Rick. Daryl walked towards me, looking defeated.

"I should have found her. I'm supposed to be good at that shit." Daryl muttered.

"No, Daryl. Look at me. It wasn't your fault. You tried ya best, okay? Daryl?" He glanced at me, his usual scowl replaced by disappointment and fear.

"But I should'a just..." I wrapped my arms around his waist. He froze and tried to push me away. I held on tighter, making him eventually give up and lay his head on mine. "I couldn't find Merle. I should'a found her." He stepped back slightly, leaning against a car and pulling out a cigarette.

"Daryl, you couldn't have found Merle. Those guys took me. We lost the trail." He sighed, breathing smoke rings.

"Yeah, now them guys are all dead too. S'how much good them guns did 'em." He growled. I rolled my eyes and leaned next to him, linking my hand with his.

"Come on, lets get some sleep." He stepped on the cigarette and followed me to the RV. We didn't go inside straight away, instead volunteering to take watch for a while. Instead of letting me sit on one of the three chairs on the RV roof, Daryl pulled me down to sit on his knee. "Ahh, Daryl!" I laughed as he nuzzled his head in my neck.

"Hmm?" He muttered, his lips lightly attaching to my neck. I swallowed a lump and held my breath so I didn't gasp.

"Don't hmm. You know what Dixon." He laughed as I shifted on his knee, feeling the growing bulge in his jeans. "Daryl..." I whispered.

"Hmm?" He said with a laugh in his voice. I shoved him and stood up.

"We can't. We need to go to sleep soon Daryl. We don't have time for..." I paused, looking at the smirk on his face. "That." I laughed, gesturing between his legs.

"There's always time for that." He growled, standing up and grabbing my face in his hands, kissing me passionately on the lips.

"Mm, Daryl. We. Don't. Have. Time." I mumbled in between kisses. He groaned and let go of me.

"Ugh, fine. Come on." He helped me down the ladder, climbing awkwardly and stealing most of the blanket to cover himself as we laid down to sleep.

~~~

The next morning when I woke up, Daryl wasn't next to me. That wasn't an unusual thing for me. He hardly ever was even before the world went to shit. I got up and stepped out of the RV, almost running into Daryl.

"Good, ya finally up. Andrea's been angry again 'bout the gun. Here." He passes me a handgun, trying to hide it from Andrea, who was glaring at Dale.

"S'matter with her?" I asked Daryl as we walked towards where Rick was.

"Dale won't give her her gun, thinks she's gonna kill herself. Everyone agreed wi' him, she's pissed off." He shrugged, playing with the strap on his crossbow.

"Amy!" Lydia shouted, running towards me. I put a finger on my lips to shush her. "Sorry. You got a gun?" She whispered a lot quieter now, putting her hand in front of her face as she did.

"Yeah. It's Daryl's." She nodded, standing next to me. Daryl leaned closer to me, our heads almost touching.

"You better be ready when we get somewhere alone." He growled slightly in his whisper. My eyes widened at his words. He smirked as we headed into the woods, leaving Dale to fix the RV and T-Dog because of his arm. Andrea was now glaring at me, constantly looking at the gun in my belt.

~~~

"Carol, you go first. If she's in there, yours needs to be the voice she hears first." Rick led Carol forward towards a tent we'd found. It smelt really bad, she wouldn't be in there, would she?

"Sophia? Sophia sweetie, it's mommy." She tiptoed closer, almost opening the door. After there was no response, Daryl stepped forward, slowly peeling the tent door open and stepping inside. I heard him cough and peer his head out.

"She ain't here." Daryl sighed, stepping out with a new gun he found. Carol gasped, trying to hold back tears. We carried on through the woods, everyone feeling the way Daryl had the night before. For a while everyone trudged on, not really looking for tracks. That's why everyone was so overjoyed when we heard church bells.

"It could be something. Someone could have found her!" Shane jumped slightly, and everyone started running in the direction of the noise.

"She could be ringing them herself." Lori muttered, holding onto Carl's hand and running. We ran out into a clearing, a disappointed look on Shane's face.

"There's no steeple, Rick. It's not this church." He shouted. Rick didn't stop though, everyone else slowly following him into the church. Daryl swung an axe at a walker in a wedding dress just before it grabbed me.

"Y'okay?" He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the corpse.

"Fuckin' peachy." He laughed at my quote. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. "Daryl?"

"Hmm?" I rolled my eyes but continued.

"What ever happened to Jack's car. He never let the thing outta his sight." I frowned as Daryl sat down, patting the space next to him. I sat down and stared at him.

"Once we'd finally had to leave ya in the hospital, we tried to drive into Atlanta. We barely got outta town before a herd, bit smaller than the one yesterday, was headin' for us. Even Jack wasn't so stupid he'd choose a car over his life. We ran for it, had to leave the car." I nodded, trying to picture Jack voluntarily leaving his car.

"You two comin'?" Rick shouted. I looked around, only just realising everyone else had left. We stood up and followed Rick outside. Apparently, Andrea was still angry about the gun, and Carl wanted to stay here a bit longer with Rick and Shane. I wondered if Rick had figured out about Shane and Lori yet. I'd realised the second I saw them together.

"I can't take your gun, Rick." Lori pushed him away, saying he might need it. Daryl reached around in his pocket, pulling out the gun he'd taken from the tent.

"Here, take this. Gotta spare." He passed it to Lori, making Andrea dramatically roll her eyes. We headed off, Daryl at the front. Andrea spent the whole time glaring at me and Lori. So when we stopped for a drink, Lori snapped.

"You want it, take it." She shoved the gun at Andrea, who looked shocked. "Quit blaming Rick for what happened to Sophia. Didn't see no one else running after her." Andrea gives her a guilty look and hands the gun back.

"Come on." Daryl grabbed my hand and we started walking. We'd barely been walking 10 minutes when a gunshot made us all freeze...


	8. Fine

*Amy*

Everyone had concerned looks on their faces as we headed back to the highway. Why one gunshot? They wouldn't waste a bullet on one walker, would they? It seems Lori had the same thought as me.

"Why was it just one gunshot?" She asked everyone, emphasising the word one.

"Maybe they found a walker." Andrea muttered.

"No. They wouldn't use the gun if there was just one. Rick wouldn't do that." I said, stepping over a log.

"They should have caught up by now. Where are they?" Carol asked, her voice still tearful. Daryl sighed, swinging his crossbow on the strap. He walked over to me and pulled me closer to him.

"Come on, ya always cheered me up before. Do it now?" He nudged me, a smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes, unable to hold back my own smile.

"Daryl! We are not doing that here. This is not the time, and...ahh." I gasped as he slid his hand under my shirt slightly, running his finger along the edge of my shorts. "Stop." I tried to say sternly, but it came out as a whisper.

"I'm sorry, that was the meanest thing I've ever said." I heard Carol say, turning around to see she was talking to Andrea. Daryl moved his hand and we walked over to them. Andrea sighed and stood up.

"We'll keep praying for Sophia. It's gotta be worth something, right?" She muttered, looking at Carol. Daryl stepped forward, a mix of anger and sympathy on his face.

"I'll tell you what it's worth, not a damn thing. It's a waste of time all this hopin' and prayin'. We're gonna find that little girl, and she's gonna be just fine." He said, turning around and picking up his crossbow. The rest of the group had surprised looks on their faces.

"You alright?" I asked, placing my hand lightly on Daryl's arm. He turned to me, kissing me lightly on the forehead.

"Will be as soon as we find her." He muttered, fiddling with the end of an arrow.

"We will. She'll be fine. Especially with you looking for her, she'll be okay." I said, running my hand down his arm. He smiled.

"Thankyou." He smiled, holding onto my wrist as we headed back to the group.

~~~

We were almost back at the highway when we heard a scream. I spun around to notice Andrea wasn't here.

"Andrea!" Lori shouted as we ran towards the scream. Just as she came into our sight, pinned to the floor by a walker, I heard the galloping of hooves. Before we noticed her, a girl on a horse swung a bat at the walkers head, not killing it but knocking it away from Andrea.

"Lori Grimes? Which one of you is Lori Grimes?" She asked in a country accent. Lori stepped forward and nodded. "Carl's been shot. You need to come with me. Rick sent me." She said, stopping the horse.

"Shot?! What..." Lori panicked.

"Come on. The rest of you, follow the highway to a lane. You'll see the mailbox, name's Greene." The girl said as she held out her hand and helped Lori onto the horse.

"Hey you don't know this girl. You can't just get on that horse." Daryl snapped, but Lori ignored him and clung to the girl as they rode off.

"It's okay, she knew Rick and Carl." I held Daryl's hand but he snatched it away. I glared at him. "Whatever."

"Shut up." He muttered as he shot the walker in the head. I didn't know if he was talking to me or the walker, but I was still mad at him. I walked further away from him as we approached the highway.

~~~

"I heard screams, are you alright?" Dale asked as we climbed back over the barrier. Andrea ignored him and walked away. "Where's Lori?"

"Some girl rode up on a horse, took her to a farm. Carl and Rick are there." Glenn said, leaning against a car.

"And you just let her go?" Dale focused on Daryl this time, who growled and glared at him.

"Climb down out of my ass, old man. She knew Lori's name, and Carls." He muttered, storming over to a car. I head T-Dog suck air in through his teeth, lifting the bandage off his arm.

"He's got an infection." Dale said, standing next to us. I frowned, suddenly remembering the bag of drugs that were Merle's on the back of the bike. I knew Daryl could hear us so I looked over to him, raising my eyebrows.

"Why'd ya wait so long to say sumthin? Got my brother stash here." He opened the bag and pulled out some pills. "Kick-ass pain killers." He threw them at Glenn, who handed them to T-Dog. He stormed off a few hundred yards down the highway after that. I couldn't even see him any more.

"I'm gonna go find him." I said to Glenn before running off in the direction Daryl went.

"What?" He snapped when I walked up behind him. He didn't even turn around.

"Just makin' sure ya okay. I'll just go, I can tell ya need to be alone." I muttered, turning around and starting to head back.

"Amy, wait! Stay here?" He pulled my arm back, his grip lighter than normal. "I'm sorry, alright? I just thought I was gonna find her."

"You will. If anyone will, it's you." I tried to smile at him. He nodded his head and lifted my chin up, kissing me on the lips. The kiss lasted a few minutes, but there was no tongues.

"I know how ya can cheer me up." He winked at me.

"Not this again. Daryl, we can't. The whole group is only a few hundred yards away, they might..." He shut me up by kissing me again, this time there was tongues.

"What? Think ya can't be quiet?" He teased, grabbing my hips and pulling me towards him, his legs falling between mine. I gasped as he pushed against me, I could feel his hard-on against my stomach.

"No. I know I can't. Daryl, I...ahh. Mhm, yeah...no!" I stuttered out my words as he slowly unbuttoned my shorts and pushed his hand inside.

"No? Ya want me to stop." He whispered against my neck, making me shiver.

"They'll hear us. We can't here." I mumbled. Daryl snatched his hand away and growled, kicking a car as I fastened the button on my shorts.

"Fine. Stupid bitch." He muttered as he started heading back to the group. I got angry at this comment and stormed after him, stopping before we were in earshot of the others.

"Really? You're gonna be like this, now?" I snapped at him, still whispering even though the others weren't here.

"Yeah, I am. Let go of me, don't wanna talk to ya." He growled as he snatched his hand away, carrying on walking.

"Fine!" I shouted after him, feeling tears forming in my eyes. I blinked my eyes fast, refusing to cry because of Daryl. I didn't say anything to anyone as I walked into the RV and laid down, not even looking at Daryl, who had an apologetic look on his face.

"Amy, I'm..." I stopped him.

"Don't. Just leave me alone, that's what ya wanted, so leave it." I snapped, facing away from him.

"Fine." He muttered as I closed my eyes, falling into an uncomfortable sleep...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daryl got mad that Amy didn't wanna have sex...man that's low..  
> *i'm so sad, I comment on my own story* :/


End file.
